My Neighbor's 40 MPG Jeep Wrangler Diesel Conversion
86My Neighbors Diesel Jeep
I own a 1997 Jeep Wrangler with a four cylinder gas engine and five speed manual transmission.
Around town it gets about 16 mpg and on the highway about 20. While this isn't as bad as a Hummer I think it should do better, especially for such a light vehicle.
One thing the Jeep does not have going for it though is its shape. Jeeps are aerodynamically like a brick. They have to push a lot of air aside and this eats up mileage.
The only way you might get more mileage is to lower it down a bit. (I shudder at the thought, I mean why have a Jeep then?) or to change the engine as my neighbor Jim recently did.
Jim has the kind of shop that I envy, a twenty by forty foot domed barn with a rolling lift that he can remove engines with. He has the works, air compressors, lots of tools and body work equipment.
His latest project was to take the engine out of a 2002 diesel Jetta and put it in his Jeep Wrangler.
I'm not 100% on all of the details involved but he had to modify the transfer case because of differences in the torque of the diesel compared to the old gas engine.
The Jetta engine fits fine inside, with room to spare, on new modified motor mounts. The fuel tank, flushed and cleaned is the same one.
I drove around in it with him and it sound almost the same, with a little throatier diesel growl on hills.
He claims that he has checked it numerous times by dividing the amount of miles driven by the amount needed to top off the tank and he is getting at least 40 mpg on the highway, sometimes more, and around 30 mpg city.
Here in our area diesel is costing about 70 cents more than gas per gallon but even at that rate it is still a big improvement, not to mention the extended cruising range.
The diesel Jetta Wrangler conversion handles hills in four wheel drive just as easy, maybe better thanks to low end torque, as the old gas motor.
I think Jim just may be on to something. He is talking about starting a diesel Jeep Conversion company and I might be his first customer.
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Comments
Is there anyway I can get your neighbors contact information to find out what he did. Sounds like a very interesing conversion
I'd pay your neighbor to put a TDI in a wrangler for me. It would be 1 to 2 years before I'd be able to do it but I would love to have a wrangler with that engine in it. Please post any information you have about how much he would charge to do it, how long it would take etc.
He's an older gentleman who just works on his own projects but he's flattered from the attention my hub brought to his project. I'm going to see if I can take a photo of under the hood. I suggest googling "jeep to diesel conversion". You can often find TDI engines from Jettas in the salvage yard. Contact a local engine shop to see about finding someone to do the swap.
Could you ask your neighbors what transfer case did he use
and how he find out the correct setting/ratio
I'm planning on doing a simmilar "upgrade" using a Mercedes Diesel Engine
Inspired by your enighbourg experience and this web site
see this link --> http://www.dieselbombers.com/diesel-engine-convers
Thank you for sharing with us
Could you ask your neighbor what transfer case did he useand how he find out the correct setting/ratioI'm planning on doing a simmilar "upgrade" using a Mercedes Diesel EngineInspired by your neighbor experience and this web site
see this link --> http://www.dieselbombers.com/diesel-engine-convers
Thank you for sharing with us
And I'll be his second customer! All this bull about America not being ready for diesel is so messed up. I mean come on, 2009 VW Polo in the UK, a little smaller than a golf 3-cylinder diesel gets over 72 mpg and requires almost no engine maintenance!
Almost every car sold/made in in our great America, that gets bad/ok gas mileage, has an exact same euro counterpart with a diesel engine that gets almost DOUBLE the gas mileage. Can you imagine driving a REAL SUV (Jeep, Land Rover, 4Runner, Range Rover, Suburban, Land Cruiser) that gets26-40 mpg! or a Big luxury car (jaguar, BMW) that gets over 50 mpg!
Well they're not ferry tales, there just in the rest of the world, not North America . . . they say its because the infrastructure is not there for diesel and diesel is dirty. BS! Gas stations that want to move with the times can change a gas pump to a Diesel one, not to mention it could be a free government project to clean up the environment and create a lot of jobs (yes thats right! new diesel technology uses less fuel to go a mile and burns a lot cleaner the the same amount of Gasoline! thank you BMW Audi Mercedes!) and everyone knows that in the US diesel is a little more expensive, and I can't figure out why! Diesel fuel takes many less steps to make and refine than gasoline that takes more time and more steps!
So lets recap, Diesel burns CLEANER, is better for the ENVIRONMENT, gets almost DOUBLE MPG, is CHEAPER and FASTER to manufacture so SHOULD COST LESS, the infrastructure is in place with little modification needed, and the ENGINES themselves require ALMOST NO MAINTENANCE! Now if someone in our Government could give me a well educated answer as to why they don't bless our country with the benefits of diesel is our everyday cars, I would be willing to listen, but let me give you the only reason right now, its because their being paid by oil companies not to allow them here! The US uses the most gas in the world, if all of our cars used half the amount, oils companies would loose have their money from our pockets.
And this isn't a new concept, somewhere around the 1950's, a carburetor was invented to triple the MPG of early cars, the patent for it was sold to a major car manufacturer, and destroyed so it could never be used. If your still interested in things that were hidden from the world for profits sake, google prohibition and the automotive industry, or something like that
Come on people, lets scream to the government that we want Diesel cars today, and hydrogen fuel-cells tomorrow!
Can you send me how your neighbor did the conversion to hamiltonww@aol.com? Thanks,
Hamilton
Please Please Please send me info on anybody that does this conversion or a detailed how to or anything! This type of vehicle is not only my dream machine but also a machine that could double the efficiency of my small business.
samthielen@gmail.com
Thanks in advance!
Alex says:
7 months ago
I've been wanting to find someone who's converted a wrangler to diesel. It may be even easier now that they are making diesel wranglers overseas (not sure if they've brought them to the states yet). I'd love more info on how your friend did this, or where you are located-if it's close enough and he'd be willing I'd LOVE to have him do it for me.